Digital tutors as effective as personal tutors, courses that improve the more students use them, and educational software as compelling as the best video game — these and other mere ideas are part of the President’s FY2012 budget addressing under-investment in learning technology research and development, but a proposed $90 million would actually create an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (“ARPA-ED”) to fund such projects performed by industry, universities or other innovative organizations. They would be selected based on their potential to create dramatic breakthroughs in learning and teaching like the Internet, GPS and robotics have done for commerce, travel and warfare (see DARPA). There’s quite a write-up on it, as you’ll discover in this PDF about ARPA-ED located on the US Department of Education website.